5 Ways to push yourself creatively at every client session

I find I’m my most creative when I’m photographing my own family.

My kids don’t even notice I’m there anymore so I’m free to play with my settings and techniques. Since my kids don’t care about the outcome, I don’t pressure myself too much.

Client work is different though.

When someone is paying you, there’s pressure to produce photos you know they’re going to love. You can focus on the tried-and-true images, but there’s no harm in spending a small chunk of time doing something fun and unexpected.

My intention with every shoot is to give my clients something they’ve never seen before and to constantly push myself creatively. There are all kinds of techniques that I use to enhance my style. These are a few I use regularly at my client sessions to keep myself on my toes.

1. Freelensing

Freelensing is when you remove the lens from the body of the camera and manipulate it by hand to create an appearance similar to a tilt-shift.

When freelensing, I always check my settings before removing the lens from the camera body, then set the focus to the infinity symbol. I love the dreamy effect it creates. After I remove my lens, I place it back in the lens mount as if I were going to reattach but I don’t twist. Instead, I start tilting the lens subtly: horizontally, vertically, and diagonally.  I find what I want in focus and click!

The first time I tried this was when I wanted to shoot with a Nikkor lens on a Canon body. Since the lens didn’t need to attach, I just held it in front of the camera and started playing. I immediately loved the effect and have been addicted ever since.

Freelensing takes some practice and you have to be very careful not to drop your lens, but now I do it at almost every shoot.

At sessions: I use this technique often. Once we are in a flow and my clients are relaxed, I’ll ask them to look at one another and I’ll work my way around them, trying different angles as I go.

Freelensing works great at any focal length but you may have to move your feet to find your focus. I have the most success with my Nikon 50mm f/1.2 and Canon 85mm f/1.8.  I love to shoot backlit as well, as the light leaks can add a nice surprise.

Note to Nikon users: Some Nikon lenses require the aperture to be held open manually. I’ve heard many photographers buy a cheap lens and hack it to make it stay open (in essence, breaking it). Before you do this, see if you have an old manual lens or a different brand of lens lying around. You may find one in your grandfather’s camera bag that can become your freelensing tool.

Save

2. Prisming

Prisming is a technique made popular by Washington D.C. photographer Sam Hurd which involves holding a prism in front of a lens in order to diffract the light for some amazing effects. I always carry a prism in my camera bag and love pulling out this fun tool whenever I feel like my image needs some enhancement.

Prisms come in many shapes and sizes but I use a 6 inch spectrum triangular prism that cost me about $16 on Amazon. It’s important when purchasing your prism that you get one that covers the whole width of your lens plus a little more since you don’t want your fingers showing up in your images. When holding the prism in front of the lens and twisting it, it will reflect whatever is around you, refract the light to create rainbows, and even create a double exposure-like effect.

At sessions: Kids love to play with it and it can make a great ice breaker. It’s a great teaching tool and lets the kids feel like they are involved in the creative process.

I love to rotate the prism to see what I can bring into the image from whatever elements surround me. Foliage and water work great with this effect. You can also separate your subjects and place the prism vertically in the middle of the lens to bring your subjects together. The results of prisming are always surprising and this technique can be a wonderful way to enhance your current style.

3. Multiple exposures

Multiple exposures are when you layer an image on top of another image. This technique has been around since film was dominant and has only been made easier through modern technology, including in-camera multiple exposure and Photoshop.

With film your results will almost always be a surprise, and I find this fun and fascinating. If you shoot and layer images in post production, you have a bit more control and can pick and choose which images work well together.

With in-camera multiple exposure you have the most control. By shooting in live view you can line up your images perfectly.

At sessions: I largely prefer to put my images together in post production. This is because I don’t want to take my focus off my clients to play around with my technique.

I try to take atmospheric shots of water or foliage that I can layer in Photoshop. When doing this, make sure to take photos with high contrast or blown out backgrounds because the second image will only fill in the dark areas, creating great silhouettes.

4. Shooting through

Shooting through is just that, having an object in the foreground of your photo and shooting through it. You can shoot through plants, fabric, glass, mirrors, etc. The options are limitless. This technique is particularly great for framing or composing your shot.

There is always something around to shoot through. If I feel like a shot is looking sort of humdrum, I’ll pick a leaf up off the ground or crouch behind a bush. I’ve even taken to looking for interesting plants when scouting for shoots now.

At sessions: If I’m outdoors, I look for plants to hide behind. In homes, it can be fun to step outdoors and shoot the subject through a window. At rainy shoots, common here in the Pacific Northwest, I will bring clear dome umbrellas for my clients to stay dry. I love shooting through the water speckled clear plastic for a dreamy effect.

For variety, try taking a photo focusing on the subject and then a second photo focusing on the object you are shooting through.

5. Intentional out of focus

There are two ways to approach this technique: focusing on the foreground as mentioned above and shooting completely out of focus (OOF).

A little secret here: I don’t have top of the line gear. In fact, I’ve spent the majority of the last two years using almost exclusively manual focus lenses. Of course I dream of buying fancy glass but I think being forced to shoot with manual focus has helped me push myself creatively in ways that I never would have otherwise.

My favorite lens that I use at every session is my vintage Nikkor 50mm f/1.2. Since it’s a manual lens, it gives me the ability, or rather forces me, to play with focus. Yes, I do like to shoot wide open so naturally I miss focus a lot. The funny thing is though, the OOF images are often some of my faves. I love how this technique gives the images a dreamy atmospheric look and creates an incredible bokeh effect. When shooting OOF with an autofocus lens, just switch it to manual focus before you begin to play.

At sessions: I will shoot continuously while playing with the focus. I have to take a few more frames than when shooting in autofocus but it’s well worth the effort. When going for a full OOF image, it works best when I’m shooting a subject that contrasts with the background for the most dynamic effect.

All of these techniques will push your creatively. Although they can be frustrating at first, you’ll learn a lot.

Sometimes, when learning new techniques, it can feel like there are more misses than hits but keep practicing and you can really take your sessions to the next level.

Words & photos by Sarah Landa